As we were saying goodnight to Carol last evening, she told us it was going to be windy the next day and to use caution if going out. Well, she was absolutely correct! The wind was a steady 30 mph with 50 mph gusts today. The wind was coming from the WNW which meant it was blowing directly across St. Julian’s Bay and right into our balcony. The sliding doors to the balcony shook most of the day and the wind whistled along the side windows of the flat. It was incredible! We tried to venture out onto the balcony and nearly got blown back into the flat.
In spite of the wind, we did go out to do some food shopping. When we got to the lobby of the building to go outside, we couldn’t push the door open without great effort. Then when the door was slightly open, you had to hang on tightly to it so it didn’t blow away from your hands and swing hard against the building. Having wind of that force so steadily was really something. The good things was that once we got a couple of blocks away from the bay, the buildings blocked the major force so it wasn’t so windy.
We visited two of our favorite stores, Meat and Eats and the Old College Market. The first one is really a butcher shop, but it has good deli meats. The Old College Market is a lovely small shop that is amazing in that it has a couple of very narrow aisles and a side room. The place is chockablock full of anything you could want in the way of food, fresh produce, plus wines and liquor, and housewares. We love going there, and the proprietor always calls women shoppers madam, with emphasis on the last syllable.
With our shopping done, we returned to the flat for lunch and a rest. Later in the afternoon, Christine suggested going for a walk in spite of the high winds. It looked from our balcony as though the wind direction shifted slightly from more northerly, which meant it wasn’t blowing right into our flat. So we ventured out along the promenade across the street and along Tower Road.
It was still very windy, but it was so refreshing. We stood and watched the incredible wave action going on across the bay near a breakwall at Portomaso, a huge apartment complex and marina.
We then walked around Exile point on the seaside. Windy, it was, but it was so nice to see the shoreline.
There is a restaurant below the promenade seawall called Surfside. It’s 3 stories and people were eating out on the second level even though it was cool and the surf was bashing into the shore just below. I thought for sure a wave would crash over the second story. It didn’t, but I’m sure some of the diners got a little wet from spray.
We were quite wind weary so we decided to get away from the promenade and cut through Sliema on Windsor Street. We had a lovely walk through the neighborhood and enjoyed looking at all the Maltese balconies and houses of distinction. It was nearly dark by the time we got back to the flat. We enjoyed rotisserie chicken and roasted potatoes that we got at the market and settled in for the night.
This was just the right kind of day to have after our travel days. Tomorrow we have a party to attend!